Retrieving documents transitively linked to an initial document

Abstract

A method for displaying hypertext data comprises displaying a first document represented in a first markup representation and containing at least one hypertext link, and in response to a user input selecting a first hypertext link in the first document, accessing an external document represented in a second markup representation, the first hypertext link having an original state pointing to the external document. The method further comprises converting the second markup representation of the external document into a first markup representation of the external document, and incorporating the first markup representation of the external document into the first document. The method can also include modifying the first hypertext link from the original state to a second state having an internal link pointed to the first markup representation of the external document in the first document.

1. A computer program, residing on a computer readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
 retrieve a first document and a distinct second document, the first document being external to the second document and including a first external reference pointing to the second document; 
 incorporate a copy of the first document and a copy of the second document into a single document; 
 modify all external references in the single document that originally pointed to either the retrieved first document or the retrieved second document to become internal links pointing to corresponding locations in the single document; and 
 save an original pre-modification state of the all modified external references. 
 
   
   
     2. The program of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first document is retrieved from a web server or from a file system; 
 the second document is retrieved from a source location on a web server or on a file system; and 
 the first external reference is a hypertext link pointing to the source location of the second document. 
 
   
   
     3. The program of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:
 in response to an action deleting a portion of the single document, restore each internal link in the remaining portion of the single document that had pointed to the deleted portion to its original state as an external reference. 
 
   
   
     4. The program of  claim 1 , wherein the second document is in a semantic markup representation and the single document is in a physical markup representation, the program further comprising instructions to:
 convert the second document to the physical markup representation of the single document before incorporating the second document into the single document. 
 
   
   
     5. The program of  claim 4 , further comprising instructions to:
 digest the second document to create a digest of the second document; 
 test the digest of the second document to determine whether the physical markup representation of the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     6. The program of  claim 4 , wherein the semantic markup representation is HTML. 
   
   
     7. The program of  claim 4 , wherein the physical markup representation is PDF. 
   
   
     8. The program of  claim 1 , wherein the single document is an empty document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     9. The program of  claim 1 , wherein the single document is either the first or the second document before the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     10. The program of  claim 1 , wherein the single document is a non empty document distinct from the first and the second document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     11. The program of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first and the second document are each a PDF document. 
 
   
   
     12. The program of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:
 digest the second document to create a digest of the second document; and 
 test the digest of the second document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     13. The program of  claim 1 , wherein the second document comprises a primary document and one or more auxiliary documents. 
   
   
     14. The program of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions to:
 digest each auxiliary document to create a respective auxiliary document digest; and 
 test the digital digest of each auxiliary document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     15. The program of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the instructions to digest comprise instructions to apply a digital digest algorithm. 
 
   
   
     16. The program of  claim 15 , wherein the digital digest is a compound digest. 
   
   
     17. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 retrieving a first document and a distinct second document, the first document being external to the second document and including a first external reference pointing to the second document; 
 incorporating a copy of the first document and a copy of the second document into a single document; 
 modifying all external references in the single document that originally pointed to either the retrieved first document or the retrieved second document to become internal links pointing to corresponding locations in the single document; and 
 saving an original pre-modification state of the all modified external references. 
 
   
   
     18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the first external reference is a hypertext link pointing to a source location of the second document. 
 
   
   
     19. A system comprising:
 means for retrieving a first document and a distinct second document, the first document being external to the second document and including a first external reference pointing to the second document; 
 means for incorporating a copy of the first document and a copy of the second document into a single document; 
 means for modifying all external references in the single document that originally pointed to either the retrieved first document or the retrieved second document to become internal links pointing to corresponding locations in the single document; and 
 means for saving an original pre modification state of the all modified external references. 
 
   
   
     20. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 in response to an action deleting a portion of the single document, restoring each internal link in the remaining portion of the single document that had pointed to the deleted portion to its original state as an external reference. 
 
   
   
     21. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the second document is in a semantic markup representation and the single document is in a physical markup representation, the method further comprising:
 converting the second document to the physical markup representation of the single document before incorporating the second document into the single document. 
 
   
   
     22. The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 digesting the second document to create a digest of the second document; 
 testing the digest of the second document to determine whether the physical markup representation of the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     23. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the semantic markup representation is HTML. 
   
   
     24. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the physical markup representation is PDF. 
   
   
     25. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the single document is an empty document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     26. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the single document is either the first or the second document before the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     27. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the single document is a non-empty document distinct from the first and the second document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     28. The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the first and the second document are each a PDF document. 
 
   
   
     29. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 digesting the second document to create a digest of the second document; and 
 testing the digest of the second document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     30. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the second document comprises a primary document and one or more auxiliary documents. 
   
   
     31. The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 digesting each auxiliary document to create a respective auxiliary document digest; and 
 testing the digital digest of each auxiliary document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     32. The method of  claim 31 , wherein:
 digesting comprises applying a digital digest algorithm. 
 
   
   
     33. The method of  claim 32 , wherein the digital digest is a compound digest. 
   
   
     34. The system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the first external reference is a hypertext link pointing to a source location of the second document. 
 
   
   
     35. The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 means for restoring, in response to an action deleting a portion of the single document, each internal link in the remaining portion of the single document that had pointed to the deleted portion to its original state as an external reference. 
 
   
   
     36. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the second document is in a semantic markup representation and the single document is in a physical markup representation, the system further comprising:
 means for converting the second document to the physical markup representation of the single document before incorporating the second document into the single document. 
 
   
   
     37. The system of  claim 36 , further comprising:
 means for digesting the second document to create a digest of the second document; 
 means for testing the digest of the second document to determine whether the physical markup representation of the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     38. The system of  claim 36 , wherein the semantic markup representation is HTML. 
   
   
     39. The system of  claim 36 , wherein the physical markup representation is PDF. 
   
   
     40. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the single document is an empty document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     41. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the single document is either the first or the second document before the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     42. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the single document is a non-empty document distinct from the first and the second document when the first and the second document are incorporated into the single document. 
   
   
     43. The system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the first and the second document are each a PDF document. 
 
   
   
     44. The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 means for digesting the second document to create a digest of the second document; and 
 means for testing the digest of the second document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     45. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the second document comprises a primary document and one or more auxiliary documents. 
   
   
     46. The system of  claim 45 , further comprising:
 means for digesting each auxiliary document to create a respective auxiliary document digest; and 
 means for testing the digital digest of each auxiliary document to determine whether the second document has already been incorporated into the single document. 
 
   
   
     47. The system of  claim 46 , further comprising:
 means for applying a digital digest algorithm. 
 
   
   
     48. The system of  claim 47 , wherein the digital digest is a compound digest.